When conflict meets competition: Trump's immigration agenda roils opening days of Winter Olympics

LIVIGNO, Italy — As the Winter Olympics opened in Milan, Vice President JD Vance hailed the competition as ''one of the few things that unites the entire country.''

That unity didn't last long.

The early days of the Milan Cortina Games have been roiled by the tumultuous political debate in the U.S. American athletes have faced persistent questions about President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement agenda and their comfort in representing a country whose policies are increasingly controversial on the world stage.

''There's obviously a lot going on that I'm not the biggest fan of and I think a lot of people aren't,'' American freestyle skier Hunter Hess said as he spoke of the ''mixed emotions'' of representing the U.S. ''If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I'm representing it. Just because I'm wearing the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the U.S.''

That prompted a fast response from Trump, who said on social media that Hess was a ''real loser'' who ''shouldn't have tried out for the team.''

''Very hard to root for someone like this,'' the president added.

The criticism of an American athlete from a U.S. president was a sharp departure from the unifying, apolitical tones the White House typically strikes during the Olympics, highlighting how the tension over the enforcement of Trump's immigration policies has now bled into athletic competition. Other leading conservative voices, ranging from podcaster Megyn Kelly to a Republican candidate for governor in Florida, added to the critique of Hess, with some calling for him to be taken off the U.S. team.

"In moments like these, it is really important for us to unite and kind of stand up for one another for all that's going on,'' said Chloe Kim, the two-time Olympic gold medalist whose parents are South Korean immigrants and who has faced racism throughout her career for her Asian heritage.

After her silver-medal win in slopestyle, Eileen Gu, who was born in San Francisco and competes for China, said she had been in touch with Hess, who told her she was one of the few people who could relate to what he's going through.

''As someone who's been caught in the crossfire before, I feel sorry for the athletes,'' said Gu, whose decision to compete for China drew sharp critiques.

The Olympics are never walled off from politics

The Olympics are never walled off from political and cultural debates. The raised fists of Tommie Smith and John Carlos during the 1968 Olympics remain one of the most powerful and enduring images of protest and resistance to racial injustice in the U.S. Since then, political commentary from athletes has become more commonplace, aided by social media platforms that allow competitors to share their real-time thoughts on everything from food and nutrition to news of the day.

Chris Lillis, another American freestyle skier, said he felt ''heartbroken about what's happening in the United States.''

''As a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody's rights and making sure that we're treating our citizens as well as anybody with love and respect,'' he said. ''I hope that when people look at athletes competing in the Olympics, they realize that that's the America that we're trying to represent.''

Skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin quoted Nelson Mandela as she acknowledged ''a lot of hardship in the world globally, and there's a lot of heartbreak, there's a lot of violence.''

''It can be tough to reconcile that when you're also competing for medals in an Olympic event,'' she said. ''I'm really hoping to show up and represent my own values, values of inclusivity, values of diversity and kindness and sharing, tenacity, work ethic, showing up with my team every single day.''

For the most part, athletes are largely engaging in political conversation during news conferences when they're specifically asked to respond to news events. At one such press event, American figure skater Amber Glenn, an outspoken LGBTQ+ rights activist, noted that the queer community is going through a ''hard time'' under Trump. She later said she would step back from social media after receiving threats on the platform.

''So I'd really rather not do something that's going to cause a big distraction for me in the middle of the tournament,'' he said.

Back at the Olympics, U.S. speedskater Casey Dawson, said ''we definitely know the whole situation going on in the USA'' while noting that ''politics don't apply to us'' at the Games.

''We're here to skate,'' said Dawson, who finished eighth in the men's 5,000 meters on Sunday with Vance and his family in the stands. ''We're here to skate. We're here to perform.''

The spotlight on the U.S. that comes with global sports will only intensify in the coming years. The U.S., along with Canada and Mexico, will host this year's World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles. While there's little chance that political tensions in the U.S. will ease in that time, some hope that sports will serve as a way for people to process their disagreements and ultimately come together.

''There's this really magical thing that sport can do,'' said Ashleigh Huffman, who was the chief of sports diplomacy at the State Department during the Biden and first Trump administrations. ''It can lower the temperature of the room.''